Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" and the Narrator's Feeble Attempts to Hide His Own Guilt

The final passage of Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" is nothing more than the narrator's final attempt to assuage his own guilt about his role in Bartleby's eventual death by convincing the reader that he continually felt sympathy for Bartleby and did all that he could to help him.

The ending is his final attempt to prove the validity of the "sweet morsel" for his conscience. Throughout the story, the narrator continually attempts to convince the reader that he sympathizes with Bartleby, and acts admirably toward him. He claims to find himself "touched" by Bartleby's strange manner. He remarks at Bartleby's indifference "considering the undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me." Later, he again claims to be "touched." He points out to the reader how he has "benevolently" construed the scrivener's conduct and claims to sympathize with the fellow's past hard times. He alludes to the "best resolves of the more generous," in a poorly-concealed reference to himself. Later, he repeatedly attempts to justify his actions in abandoning Bartleby, saying that "I had now done all that I possibly could...with regard to my own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby."

Keeping in mind that the narrator is telling this story from a place chronologically much later than the events detailed in the narrative, one begins to see that he is throwing in these little tidbits in an attempt to manipulate the reader's perspective to give the appearance that he is not at fault in Bartleby's death and therefore should not feel guilty. He wisely never admits to any guilt, but his feeling is implied in this manipulation.

The ending portion is simply a continuation of this. He tells us he is not at all sure of the validity of the information and that he debated whether or not to include it, but decided to do so merely to fulfill the curiosity of his readers. The key statement in this final paragraph is "hardly can I express the emotions which seize me." This is an obvious cop out. By claiming to be unable to express the emotions which he feels, he gets out of expressing any emotion at all while still implying that he feels sympathy for Bartleby's past. The narrator is trying to point out once again his sympathetic feeling for Bartleby as proof of his lack of ill intent toward Bartleby.

Melville's purpose in adding this final paragraph is to make this irony more evident for those who may have not picked up on it earlier on. Why would a lawyer, a man constantly surrounded and occupied with facts, a man who until the final paragraph provides his reader only with data which he himself observes, choose to include a statement based entirely on rumor and supposition if he does not intend for it to in some way affect his reader?